The Grove

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by WMHT Web Editor on

More Americans have been lost to AIDS than in all the U.S. wars since 1900, and the pandemic has killed 22 million people worldwide. Few know about the existence of the National AIDS Memorial, a seven-acre grove hidden in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park. This documentary chronicles the garden’s transformation from a neglected eyesore to a landscaped sanctuary to a national memorial. The film shows how a community in crisis found healing and remembrance, and how the seeds of a few visionary environmentalists blossomed into something larger than they could have imagined. However, controversy erupted over an international design competition, opening up questions of what it means to be a national memorial — and how to mark a time of unimaginable loss.